KANKARA, Nigeria (AP) – The released schoolboys of Nigeria have been reunited with their happy parents after being held captive for nearly a week by gunmen linked to jihadist rebels in the northwest of the country.
Relieved parents hugged their sons tightly in Kankara on Saturday, where more than 340 boys were kidnapped from Government Science Secondary School on the night of December 11. Other families met their sons in Ketare, about 15 miles away. More boys went to their homes further away in Katsina state.
“When I heard that our boys were released, I was full of joy and happiness because I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat,” said Murjanatu Rabiu, a mother of one of the boys.
“We cried, not knowing what condition they were in,” she said. “When we saw them, we were so happy, even though they came back with wounds … and very hungry.”
However, in the midst of the celebrations, many schoolboys expressed concern about returning to school, saying their kidnappers threatened them with death if they returned to school. Boko Haram’s jihadist rebels in Nigeria have claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, saying they attacked the school because they believe Western education is un-Islamic.
“I was afraid when they said that if they ever see us at school again, they would kill us,” said the released Kankara student, Usman Mohammad Rabiu. “I was seriously scared.”
The 13-year-old told how the students were forced at gunpoint to trek for miles through the bush without food or water. His feet had sores from the walk on the difficult terrain. He said his feet were so painful that he couldn’t walk and that he was helped by an older boy who carried him on his back. He said he didn’t want to go back to school.
“The reason I don’t go back to school is because I think if I go back to school, the bandits will kill me and then I won’t see my parents again,” Usman said. “That’s why I’m not going back.”
After being released by their captors, the schoolboys were taken by bus to Katsina, the provincial capital, where they met Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday. The president seemed to minimize the traumatic kidnapping by telling the boys not to be put off in life by “this little difficulty.”
Another kidnapping of more than 80 students took place Saturday evening in a nearby area, but the students were quickly rescued by security forces after a fierce firefight, police announced on Sunday.
Saturday night’s attempted kidnapping took place in Dandume, about 64 kilometers (40 miles) from Kankara, the town where the previous kidnapping of schoolboys took place.